I. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a system for managing the sale of real estate. More particularly, the present invention concerns a system for listing property, tracking real estate sale transactions and ordering services related to the sale of real estate.
II. Reference to Related Art
A real estate transaction is often a torturous, laborious task. The process is tiring, time consuming, complex, detailed and requires numerous procedures, services and skills in order to arrive at the closing table. A buyer's major purchase of a lifetime often leaves him/her uneasy and frustrated.
The real estate industry is plagued with “old methods” and adversarial positions held by different parties to the real estate transaction. The two primary adversaries are Real Estate Agents and Independent Sellers (For Sale By Owner, commonly “FSBO”). Agents view FSBO signs as “help wanted” signs and often attempt to get the seller to list with their agency.
The agent's primary concern is to list the seller's property in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Generally the seller will offer to pay a commission to the agent only if the agent procures a buyer. The agent states that he/she will keep the seller's home in mind, but rarely does. The truth be told, agents seldom find buyers for their own listings, let alone the FSBO.
Some agents persist in pursuing the FSBO to list with them, emphasizing how their property will gain exposure to local real estate professionals. Often after unsuccessful efforts to market his or her own property, the seller relents and finally lists with the agent. The seller then becomes obligated to pay the listing broker/agent a fee or commission, thus increasing their selling costs by two or three times the amount they originally intended.
For the buyer, real estate shopping begins at the local classified ads or classifieds on the Internet. A shopper eventually identifies a property of interest and then places a call to either a real estate agent or an individual property seller seeking potential buyers. These sellers or agents may place the classified ad to get the initial call from a buyer, but neither the agent nor the independent seller is generally well prepared for the steps that follow.
Buyers that inquire about real estate for sale are not being properly pre-qualified or pre-approved for a mortgage or real estate loan. Due to inexperience, the independent seller or agent may misunderstand an individual buyer's desires and/or the financial criteria required to properly pre-qualify a “prospect.” What can they really afford? Who should determine how much they are qualified to purchase? As it stands now, the agent, independent seller or the buyer is making that critical determination!
Agents and independent sellers often forget the primary vehicle that drives the real estate sales process—financing. Having two parties willing to consummate the transaction is not enough. The prospect must also be “ready and able” to fulfill the financial requirements and close the deal. What seller wants to spend time with a hasty agent or buyer making a “non-qualified” offer?
Buyers also expect agents to notify them of all real estate for sale. What agents deliver many times is incomplete information from a variety of sources. This becomes a waste of countless hours in an exhausting search for the ideal. How could this still be possible given today's technology?
The process has barely begun and all parties are setting themselves up for disaster, heartache, embarrassment and a big lesson in wasting time. In the age of fast-paced “everything” the public is looking for a system to deliver real estate at lightning speed. But still they keep doing things the “same old way,” slowly and inefficiently.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,989, entitled “Real Estate Search and Location System and Method,” discloses a method for locating available real estate properties for sale, lease or rental. Specifically, the method uses a centrally located database of available properties which may be accessed by remote stations using a graphical interface to select desired regions or areas of interest from a map.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,977, entitled “Video Real Estate Information Service,” discloses an apparatus and method for providing real estate agents and other interested entities with an audio-visual presentation of a particular property. This presentation is capable of being supplied over existing cable, telephone, ISDN or other types of broadband network facilities.